Statuette of the Chinese monkey king Sun Wukong, bronze, patina. China, the twentieth century. Sun Wukong is one of the key characters in the Chinese novel Journey to the West. This is a trickster, one of the most famous in the Chinese myth system. In an effort to gain immortality, he became an apprentice to a Buddhist monk, and then, having gained power, he began to defy the gods. His prototype goes back to the equally powerful Hanuman, who could control the elements and magic. The story of Sun Wukong is a parable about the constant search, becoming and striving to find a deeper meaning.